'Bibles and sneakers': Trump turns up the 'grift' as legal woes intensify

10 June 2024

As of June 10, Forbes estimates former President Donald Trump's net worth to be around $6.7 billion. Forbes bases that estimate on his real estate holdings as well as the value of Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump, however, has been searching for a variety of ways to raise as much money as possible, from aggressive fundraising to selling Bibles for $59.99 and gold sneakers for $399 a pair.

In a lengthy, in-depth article published by The New Republic on June 10, journalist Alexander Nazaryan stresses that as Trump's legal woes intensify, so will his "grift."

"Why is Trump hawking Bibles and sneakers?" Nazaryan writes. "Very simply, because he needs to. He needs money for the presidential race, because short of being Mel Gibson, returning to the White House may be the best get-out-of-jail free card in our political system."

Nazaryan continues, "But first, he has to get to Election Day, which requires him to pay millions of dollars to attorneys who have, so far, shown remarkable skill at delaying the most potentially damaging trials he faces."

On Thursday, July 11, Justice Juan Merchan is scheduled to sentence Trump on 34 criminal charges in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.'s hush money/falsified business records case. Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts after only two days of deliberation, and he is facing criminal indictments in three other cases as well.

However, those cases appear unlikely to go to trial before the election in November.

In addition to his criminal indictments, Nazaryan notes, Trump has been facing a variety of costly civil lawsuits. And they range from being ordered to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll in one of her defamation lawsuits against him to owing a total of $454 million when interest in New York State Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud case is factored in.

"Lately, Trump's fundraising e-mails have taken on an especially unhinged quality," Nazaryan observes. "Trump is no longer simply asking for money. He's begging for it."

Read AlexanderNazaryan's full article for The New Republic at this link.

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